Young talent met family businesses in a growing competition
The winning team from Per Brahegymnasiet. From the left: Frida Livenborn, Elias Olofsson and Wilma Brandt.
How can young people discover family businesses – both as future employers and as key drivers of regional development? This was one of the starting points for the Family Entrepreneurship Schools Tournament (FEST), recently organized at Jönköping University. During the competition, high school students from Jönköping County worked on real‑life challenges provided by a local family-owned company.
“We all agreed that it felt great to see our knowledge of entrepreneurship being applied in real life,” said Elias Olofsson, a member of the winning team from Per Brahegymnasiet in Jönköping.
For the second year in a row, the competition was organized by the Centre for Family Entrepreneurship and Ownership (CeFEO) in collaboration with the Case Consulting Club within the student association JSA at Jönköping International Business School.
The aim of FEST is to give high school students the opportunity to develop entrepreneurial skills while also helping them see family businesses as attractive future employers. The region is home to many successful, medium-sized family firms, but despite their importance to the local economy, they are often relatively unknown among young people.
Real-life case from a regional family business
This year, the competition expanded to include eight high schools from five municipalities, compared to three schools in Jönköping municipality during the first year. FEST primarily targets students in their second year of high school and is integrated into the curriculum. Students work in teams on an assignment related to entrepreneurship, leadership, sustainability, and generational transition.
“We want to show how important family businesses are for the region, while also giving students the opportunity to work with real challenges. It’s great to see how much the competition has grown this year,” said Linnea Lind, Project Manager for FEST.
The competition began as early as January, when around 400 students gathered for a kick‑off day at Jönköping University. After an online qualification round, nine teams advanced to the final, which took place at Jönköping International Business School on 29 April.
In the final, the teams were tasked with solving an assignment based on the family‑owned agricultural and food company Hagshult Group. The task was to develop proposals for how the company could grow and develop without losing its core values related to family ownership and sustainability.
During the two days of the competition, the students also had time to visit Hagshultskossorna’s cow retirement home.
“It was very difficult to choose a winning team – all participants performed extremely well. Each presentation had something valuable to offer, and I truly believe we will be able to make good use of many of the ideas we heard today,” said Carl‑Johan Bertilsson, founder and production manager at the Hagshult Group and a member of the jury.
Challenging and rewarding to compete
In the final, the teams presented their ideas in a seven‑minute pitch to a jury consisting of representatives from Jönköping International Business School, Ung Företagsamhet, Region Jönköping County, and the business sector. Throughout the process, the teams supported one another and received guidance from mentors from Jönköping International Business School and other experts.
The winning team described the task as both fun and challenging.
“We built our idea around two triangles – one we called the expansion triangle and one we called the transition triangle. We managed to make them work together so the company could preserve its core values while continuing to develop. I believe that was our winning concept,” said Wilma Brandt.
The team agreed that participating in the competition was challenging, but also enjoyable and highly educational. They also found it inspiring to experience how things work at Jönköping International Business School – and perhaps some of them will become students there in the future.
“I could definitely imagine studying here in the future,” said Frida Livenborn.
Attractive prizes for the winning teams
The winning team from Per Brahegymnasiet was awarded SEK 5,000, while the second prize of SEK 2,000 went to Brinellgymnasiet in Nässjö. The third prize of SEK 1,000 was also awarded to Per Brahegymnasiet in Jönköping. In addition, a special Best Pitch Award, decided by audience vote, was presented to Brinellgymnasiet in Nässjö.
Students from eight high schools across the region participated: Erik Dahlbergsgymnasiet, Per Brahegymnasiet and Sandagymnasiet in Jönköping; Brinellgymnasiet in Nässjö; Fenix kultur- och kunskapscentrum in Vaggeryd; Tenhults Naturbruksgymnasium; Finnvedens Gymnasium in Värnamo; and Holavedsgymnasiet in Tranås.
Previous articles about FEST:
From the final 2025 External link, opens in new window.
From the kick-off in January External link, opens in new window.
View the slideshow from the competition:
Three stages – from classroom to finale at JIBS
The tournament consists of three clearly structured stages:
- Case-based teaching at schools (Weeks 1–10)
High school teachers integrate a family business case into their teaching and guide students through several weeks of work, culminating in a video presentation. CeFEO provides teacher training, workshop materials and ongoing support. - Online qualification (Weeks 10–12)
A jury of researchers, municipal representatives and other regional stakeholders evaluates the video presentations using predefined criteria. The best teams from each school advance to the final. - Finale at JIBS (28–29 April)
Finalist teams meet for two intensive days to solve a new case from the same family business. All work is conducted in English, and each team is supported by JIBS students from the Case Academy. A jury selects the winning teams, while the Best Presentation Award is decided by a vote among JIBS students.
